Byron was born in London on 22 January 1788 to Catherine Gordon Byron and John Byron. Following his father's early death, he became the sixth Lord Byron at the age of ten.
Byron was educated at Dr Glennie's Academy in Dulwich, and Harrow. He fell in love with a neighbour (and cousin) Mary Ann Chatworth. After she married another in 1805, Byron adopted a wild lifestyle. He also wrote many verses, published in 1806 as Fugitive Pieces. Later it was considered that one of the poems - To Mary - was too shocking to publish; the poem was removed and the volume republished as Hours of Idleness.
In 1809 he set off on a European tour, which later became a tour of the Middle East. He eventually found himself in Albania, where he was very well received by Ali Pasha Tepelena, 'the Lion of Janina'. Eventuallylly he returned to England. In 1812 the first two Cantos of Childe Harold were published and Byron became an overnight sensation. In 1815 he married Annabella Milbanke, and later in the year, their daughter Augusta Ada was born. However, the next year, Annabella and Byron separated. Snubbed by London society, he set out again for Europe. In Italy, he finished Childe Harold, wrote Manfred, and started on Don Juan.
In 1823 he became involved with the Greek fight for independence from Turkey. He joined forces with a Greek prince named Mavrocordato and financed a navy for the freedom fighters.
Byron died on 19 April 1824 at the age of 36.
He is buried at Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, and on his rare stays in this country, lived at nearby Newstead Abbey